Archive:

Dec 2014

British Columbia’s new Water Sustainability Act was passed into law in May 2014. Its associated regulations are now being developed, and the legislation will likely come into force in 2016. In October 2014, a diversity of individuals working on issues related to water sustainability came together at a workshop held at the University of Victoria. “This group of water leaders developed a statement of support to the province which identified action was required on two critical issues to insure success of the Water Sustainability Act,” reports John Finnie.

“When our long term collaborator at the District of North Vancouver, Richard Boase, informed us of some of the new tools available to support rainwater management and planning in the District, I immediately knew I wanted to incorporate them into an assignment for the Urban Watershed Management course,” states Julie Wilson. “The students appreciated the power and utility of these kinds of tools to engage with the public on issues of development and rainwater management. The students really made the connection between urban flood risk and impervious area in the watershed, especially when coupled with steep terrain, shallow soils, wet antecedent conditions and an intense rainfall event (PLUS in this situation, a lack of snowpack to absorb and delay some of the rainfall).